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Social perspectives on deafness
Social perspectives on deafness
Social perspectives on deafness
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Social isolation, Suspiciousness and rejection
Hearing loss interferes with the simplest type of communication between people and influences daily activities as information cannot be exchanged. As a result, loneliness and isolation may make older adults feel secluded from others since hearing loss influences the quality of life owing to the absence of social relationships (Miller, 2009). For example, social isolation worsens a person’s feelings of low self-worth, shame, loneliness, depression, and other mental health concerns (Aberdeen and Fereiro, 2014). Thus, hearing impairment create greater life changes something that older persons are already experiencing (Mental Health Foundation,
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Henceforth, significantly destroying seniors’ regular lives (Rosenhall, 2015). As hearing loss is related to age, so it is a challenging issue with changing population demographics in the developed countries (Weinsten, 2012). For instance, older adults experience a negative emotional state associated with the invisible handicap as hearing loss often ignored during diagnosis (Krieger, 2008). If someone is confused or acts depressed thus may represent a psychological problem or dementia rather than hearing loss itself (Peelle, 2015). One of the challenges and frustrations of a person with hearing loss is to be understood; as hearing loss interferes with the person to person communication, older people miss out with family and friends (AT et al., 2015). As seniors may think the conversation is held in a whisper tone or have concerns that …show more content…
As this offers the seniors to exert influence and to help others by reflecting, listening and also, advice. Communication is not only about sharing and transferring information but also improving relationships (Rhees et al., 2011). Therefore, if something affects the communication, the relationship or the social life impacted as well (Cooper and Cosnell, 2014). The effective communication includes the effort of everyone involved, irrespective that the person uses hearing aids. Henceforth; proper communication approaches during conversation are considered (Hindle and Coates, 2011). Meller (2009) stresses that there is a vast difference between hearings and listening attentively. When one pays attention carefully; it helps the hearing impaired person heard and understood, for this strengthened a deeper and stronger connection, claims (Rhees et al., 2011). In doing so; one will experience a process that reduces stress in supports of emotional well-being. Similarly, Merola et al., (2014) strongly emphasise that effective communication is simply a matter of communicating respectfully, such as to gain the listener’s attention, use body language, use of lip-reading, deliver words precisely and to use nonverbal signals matches the phrases, etc. Similarly, communication rehabilitation programs and sessions are necessary to provide training
Tanner, D.C. (2003). Chapter 6: Hearing Loss and Deafness. In Exploring communication disorders: A 21st century introduction through literature and media (2nd ed., p. 189). Boston, Massachusetts: Allyn and Bacon.
Marika Kovac-Houlihan’s TED Talk hurt me. Hearing her stories first hand truly reveals the discrimination Deaf people face. It’s an easy to listen and understand the definition of discrimination but to experience it or witness is different. Kovac-Houlihan’s intention was for the audience to be stunned by her experiences, I imagine most of those people feel the same way I currently do. Her understanding was that most hearing people see Deaf people as disable or inferior, not every hearing person thinks that way, but most do. Kovac-Houlihan believes hearing people’s assumption is “that a deaf person may be isolated, uneducated or without language” (2:29 Kovac-Houlihan). I slightly disagree with her, but there are exceptions to every rule, one individual does not always impact the thoughts of the mob. I choose this video because of my reaction to Kovac-Houlihan’s primary discussion topics: the phonocentric ideology, loss of identity, and the divide between hearing and Deaf
...people making decisions for the deaf community. The past resulted in the strengthening of unity in the culture. “They claim the right to “personal diversity”, which is “something to be cherished rather than fixed and erased” (Tucker, 1997).
A hearing loss can present many obstacles in one's life. I have faced many issues throughout my life, many of which affected me deeply. When I first realized that I was hearing-impaired, I didn't know what it meant. As I grew older, I came to understand why I was different from everyone. It was hard to like myself or feel good about myself because I was often teased. However, I started to change my attitude and see that wearing hearing aids was no different than people wearing glasses to see.
Deaf people often occupy an uneasy position in society. Since most children with hearing impairments have hearing parents, their family members frequently oppress them by taking over the decision-making processes regarding their well-being (Andrews 27). For ex...
Deaf and hearing impaired individuals are know longer an out cast group. They now have there own deaf community. Deaf individuals do not consider themselves having an impairment, handicap, or any type of disability. They believe that through the use of sign language, other communication skills, and technology that there deafness is the way they are supposed to be. Many people who have perfect hearing can not understand deaf people and why they embrace there deafness instead of trying to receive hearing and get rid of there handicap. However not all deaf people have th...
In the United States today, approximately 4500 children are born deaf each year, and numerous other individuals suffer injuries or illnesses that can cause partial or total loss of hearing, making them the largest “disability” segment in the country. Although, those in the medical field focus solely on the medical aspects of hearing loss and deafness, members of the deaf community find this unwarranted focus limiting and restrictive; because of its failure to adequately delineate the sociological aspects and implications of the deaf and their culture. Present day members of deaf culture reject classifications such as “deaf mute” or “deaf and dumb”, as marginalizing them because of their allusions to a presumed disability. (Edwards, 2012, p. 26-30)
The disparity between the Deaf and hearing is based around ableism, or a newer notion, Audism. Audism is the notion that those that can hear are superior. (Oberholtzer, 2009) Like most that are viewed as inferior, the Deaf are often looked at as lesser compared to those of the hearing community and labeled as disabled, even if they themselves do not view their deafness as a disability. Many of Deaf community members are able to hear and speak well enough to communicate with hearing people but still chose to identify with the Deaf community rather than in the hearing world. (Harlan, 1996) One’s involvement does not center around their hearing
The documentary of “Through Deaf Eyes” has open my eyes to the deaf culture. The movie has made it “click” that deaf people are just that people and individuals like me. Deaf community has its struggles just like everyone else. They struggle with growing into who they are as a person, harmful situations, and feeling a sense of belonging. They just speak a different language like Italians and Hispanics. Communicating with a different language does not make them lesser than a hearing person. When able to learn to communicate, the deaf are able to learn and gain knowledge just like a hearing person. The only difference is they have to learn more and work harder to achieve their goals and gain knowledge, which a hearing person learns just by hearing their surroundings.
National Institute of Health. (2011). National Institute on Deafness and other communication disorders: Improving the lives of people who have communication disorders. National Institute on
In mainstream American society, we tend to approach deafness as a defect. Helen Keller is alleged to have said, "Blindness cuts people off from things; deafness cuts people off from people." (rnib.org) This seems a very accurate description of what Keller's world must have been. We as hearing people tend to pity deaf people, or, if they succeed in the hearing world, admire them for overcoming a severe handicap. We tend to look at signing as an inferior substitute for "real" communication. We assume that all deaf people will try to lip-read and we applaud deaf people who use their voices to show us how far they have come from the grips of their disability. Given this climate, many hearing people are surprised, as I was at first, to learn of the existence of Deaf culture. To me deafness is not a defect but a source of connection. Imagine yourself deaf, growing up with a beautiful language, visual literature, humor, and theater. Imagine taking pride in your identity without any desire to become a member of the majority culture. For many deaf people, their community is a comforting relief from the isolation and condescension of the hearing world. However the Deaf community is far more than a support group for people who share a physical characteristic. Members of the Deaf community may have hearing levels that range from profoundly deaf to slightly hard-of-hearing. But no members of the Deaf community are "hearing impaired." Inside this community, deaf people become Deaf, proudly capitalizing their culture. Hearing people suddenly find that they are handicapped: "Deaf-impaired."
In the article “Deafness, culture, and choice” Neil Levy says, “The deaf will always be cut off from the buzz of conversation . . . [and] always slightly alienated from the mainstream of political, social, and cultural life.” Being deaf can have a negative impact on Gauvin’s social life. A scenario can occur when Gauvin is in the playground by himself playing. While a group of kids approach him and start a conversation. The kids are trying to ask Gauvin if he is interested in playing with them. As they are talking, he is staring at the kids not knowing what is going on. As a couple of minutes pass, the kids start to walk away from Gauvin. The kids got furious because he wasn’t communicating with them. This shows how Gauvin might face difficulties like this in his childhood where he will be different from others and can’t fully understand the situation. Another issue might occur at a birthday party where there are a bunch of people and music everywhere. As everyone is enjoying the event, Gauvin sees a little girl fall into the swimming pool. Since everyone is eating food and dancing, no one can see or hear the little girl’s voice. Gauvin tries to go and get help but as he’s trying to communicate with people they aren’t understanding him. By the time he makes people realize what has happened, it is too late and the little girl is taken to the hospital. A lot of complications can
Parents of deaf child constantly make decisions and paths for the child and hope for the best. The first decision that my parents made when they discovered that I’m deaf are “old-school” hearing aids and weekly intense speech therapy. At first, I hated both of i...
Many people do not seem to be aware that there is a Deaf culture and many hearing people often assume that those who are hard of hearing desire to hear but unfortunately this is not the case. According to My Deafness – Deaf culture facts, (2015) “Deaf people often consider positives of being deaf such as
My instructor had informed us about people with hearing impairments and disorders, but I never thought much about it. After this assignment, I realized how hard it is to have your hearing impaired. I had the luxury of being able to take out my plugs and fix my impairment if I became to overwhelmed or stressed. Those who are impaired do not have such luxury. I did not expect as much of a psychological element to this assignment as there was. There were times where I felt anxiety stirring inside of me. I became anxious if I missed something. The first day back with un-impaired hearing was memorable. I kept thinking to myself how hard short conversations would be if I was impaired. Moving forward, I have a better grasp of what hearing impairment really is and how hard it is to live with. I will be more conscious of my hearing because I never want to experience fulltime